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Watch: From Farm to Fork - Inaugural Lecture explores a career in Veterinary Public Health

Posted 8 April

Professor Ken Sloan, Vice-Chancellor of 琳琅视频 , Professor Anna Meredith OBE, Executive Dean, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Keele University, Professor Philip Robinson, Professor of Veterinary Public Health and Deputy Head of School, and Professor Matt Jones, Head of 琳琅视频 & Keele Veterinary School before Professor Robinson鈥檚 lecture.

A Veterinary Public Health career examining ‘everything from the microscopic to the global’ was the focus of the latest Inaugural Lecture.

The Inaugural Lecture series celebrates the achievements of experts from across the School. The latest event, titled ‘From Farm to Fork: A Career in Veterinary Public Health’ welcomed Professor Philip Robinson, Professor of Veterinary Public Health and Deputy Head of School, to reflect on his career path.   

Philip’s experiences growing up on a farm in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, paired with an early interest in human medicine and dentistry, led to his decision to pursue a career in veterinary medicine and helped shape his passion for public health.

He said: “Veterinary public health - I love this subject, and I hope the students get that message! It’s so broad in its scope, it’s so deep, it’s applied to animal health, it’s applied to human health. It’s everything from the microscopic to the global.

“I love the diversity, and it’s been that golden thread running through my career right to this point.”

After graduating from the University of Glasgow, Philip spent time working as a vet in mixed animal practice. The UK Government’s announcement in March 1996 that BSE-affected animals and their meat may have been linked to cases of new variant CJD in humans resulted in a steep decline in the cattle farming industry, and led Philip to pursue a career in the government sector.

In 2001, whilst working for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD, now DAERA), Philip was one of the first department officials to visit and confirm the presence of Foot and Mouth Disease at one of the infected farms in Northern Ireland. Philip reflected: “This was one of those experiences that I'll never forget. It was both fascinating in terms of the disease and working as a Veterinary Officer, but also devastating. The stress and the pressure that this placed on the industry, and on those who were affected, was catastrophic.”

Philip spent four years conducting research and providing policy advice on bovine TB and brucellosis control at the DARD Veterinary Epidemiology Unit. This experience, alongside a US-UK Fullbright Scholarship at Mississippi State University, whetted the appetite for the world of academia. A PhD in Geography at Durham University saw him focus on bovine TB, adopting a social science approach to investigate bovine TB control from the perspective of stakeholders.

“Social science has a real role to play in Veterinary Epidemiology. A wide range of stakeholders have an influence on the success, or otherwise, of disease control in our livestock. We as vets play a crucial role in this - the language we use and how we communicate is key. Here at the Vet School we focus a lot on these communication skills.”

Speaking after the lecture, Philip continued: “I get tremendous pleasure from teaching veterinary public health and state veterinary medicine, and I draw from all the years of experience I’ve had in general practice, government, academia, and research to enrich and embody what I teach.

“The world is facing many challenges, from food security to sustainability. We, as vets and vet students, have an amazing role to play on a global basis to address some of these challenges.”